Charges Filed Against Mayor of Enlarged Meghri Community

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, a criminal case was initiated on May 7, 2020, regarding apparent corruption violations in the process of leasing and subleasing land plots belonging to the community in the Agarak municipality of the Syunik region.

The investigative department of the RA Investigative Committee has established, based on a sufficient combination of evidence obtained during the preliminary investigation, that a resident of the city of Agarak won a competition announced by the Agarak municipality and obtained the right to lease a 0.02 ha agricultural land located in the southern part of the administrative boundaries of the Agarak community for a term of 25 years with an annual rent of 18,000 AMD.

Under the decision of the community's mayor and the signed contract, this land was illegally subleased to a telecommunications operator company for 50,000 AMD per month (600,000 AMD annually), where the company constructed a mobile communication station without the land's intended use being changed.

Since November 13, 2008, when M. Z. became the mayor of the Agarak community, and since September 24, 2016, the mayor of the enlarged Meghri community, he was aware that the land could not be used for a communication facility without breaching the municipal laws. Instead of exercising his authority to prevent, suspend or eliminate the illegal use of lands, particularly by unilaterally terminating the lease agreement between the community and the citizen, on April 1, 2009, an agreement was signed in the community’s name that modified the rent payment from 18,000 AMD to 300,000 AMD per year.

On July 27, 2011, once again failing to comply with legal requirements, he imposed a fine on the citizen at a hundred-fold of the minimum wage established in Armenia for violating the obligation to use the land for its intended purpose.

As a result, from November 13, 2008, to January 2021, the community budget received 3,657,500 AMD instead of the required 7,350,000 AMD, causing significant repercussions, with a total of 3,692,500 AMD not being paid to the community budget.

For these criminal actions, M. Z. has been charged according to part 2 of Article 308 of the RA Criminal Code by the decision of the prosecutor of Syunik region, overseeing the legality of the preliminary investigation.

Notice: A suspect or accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia and by a legally binding court decision.